Russian vlogger gets 3.5 year sentence for playing Pokemon GO in a church

Capture.JPG

Last year, in protest to Russia's anti-blasphemy law that criminalized playing Pokémon GO in church, vlogger Ruslan Sokolovsky filmed himself catching Pokémons in Yekaterinburg’s Church of All Saints, the site where the last Emperor of Russia Nicholas II and his family were murdered in 1918, and shared the footage on his YouTube channel:



The 22-year old was then detained for two months for “inciting hatred” and “insulting religious feelings” after posting the video, and later taken to a pre-trial detention center for breaching the terms of his house arrest after the young man had posted a video on the Internet though he had been banned from using the web and mobile communications. Judgement was passed this Thursday and Sokolovsky was found guilty of all charges.

"In accordance with the expert evaluation, the court found blogger Sokolovsky guilty of inciting hatred, violating religious feelings and illegal possession of special technical means - a pen with a video camera," said judge Yekaterina Shoponyak who granted the prosecutors' wish and gave the vlogger a 3.5-year suspended sentence.

Judge Shoponyak pointed out that the 22-year old video blogger was on trial not only for playing the game in the church but also for posting several videos that offended believers. She listed "mockery of the immaculate conception," ''denial of the existence of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad" and "giving an offensive description of Patriarch Kirill," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the court hearings, Sokolovsky did not deny that he had been the author of these videos but concerning the pen with a camera, he reportedly said that not only was the pen not his, but that it wasn’t a camera at all, but instead just a light bulb.

During the interrogation of eyewitnesses, the blogger apologized to all worshippers who had complained about being offended.

What do you think of this case? Was the verdict fair in finding Sokolovsky guilty who on top of violating the country's anti-blasphemy law, additionally breached the terms of his house arrest? Or is suppressing one's freedom of expression a more serious offense?

:arrow: SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2
 

Eirikr

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Religion is one giant mess.

Heres my problem with religion, many religions contradict each other, many claim that they are correct, and not to believe other false religions or Gods because its a sin. With your soul at stake here you have to make a right choice, and pick the right religion so you won't suffer for eternity. With over 4,000 religions, none of them able to prove the existence of God or if their religion is the true correct one, which one do you pick? Why doesn't God/s tell you which is the correct religion? Its all like winning the lottery, its all just guessing games. If your God really loved you why would he leave your life to a gamble and not tell you? Your God/s sounds like a complete asshole treating your life like a game.

Some people say that God/s doesn't tell anyone because no one would believe it. Some people also claim that God/s is all knowing, so wouldn't an all knowing God/s KNOW exactly what to do to get us to believe, if not then he's not all knowing. Maybe he can make it dark outside during the day time, if a God can create a world wide flood, then I'm sure he can do something extraordinary to get people to believe. Some say that God doesn't want to meddle in human affairs and remains hidden for reasons. Does this sound like a smart decision from an all knowing loving God, especially when religious wars breaks out, and suffering happens.

So why even bother with religion? Especially if your just guessing. Every religion is just as valid. Do you really want to research and shuffle through 4,000 religions to find one, or do you pick randomly without researching other religions? Would your choice be taken seriously especially if your just picking randomly and without researching many of the other beliefs? Will you be punished or your soul suffer for not following Gods specific rules? In this case your not allowed to interpret religion how ever you want, you have to interpret how God wants you to interpret it, or else if you do something God doesn't like then your doomed for suffering. Is it the God of Abraham or some other God? For hope of an afterlife? Does guessing religions sound like a good chance of hope to you. For morals from religious stories? Well I get my morals from Mickey Mouse, Humpty Dumpty, Pinocchio, and the 3 little pigs. Pinocchio has good morals on not lying. I get my morals from an imaginary rat. Theres no need for religion from the morals department. If you like getting morals from religion then fine. But to actually believe in the religion, especially if your religion has an all powerful God that is treating your life like a gamble, and is the one dishing out the punishments without telling you the correct one, why even bother with an unloving asshole of a God?

My take from religion is the family and community it brings more so than the actual beliefs. People love interacting with others. But can't that be done without religion. Many people have attended anime, comic, ect, conventions and many events without religion being the main focus, so a family community can be done without religion. Especially if your religion has an F'd up God and its all just guessing games.

What you said SG854 in many ways sums up my way of thinking. I was born and raised a Catholic but as I matured, went to college and university and developed critical thinking, I realized that I could no longer believe in this god of the Bible, at least not with the knowledge I had acquired. It seems this place that we live in is far more complex and different than we ever imagined. There may be something more, yes, however whatever it is remains at best unknown right now.

I feel cannot be blamed for failing to believe in a god(s) that has chosen to reveal himself to me through such poor means and amidst contradiction.
If He/She/It/They want me to follow their word then they are going to find a better means to talk to me than by some thousand year old books written by men whom I don’t know, about events I cannot verify. Think of it this way: Do you believe EVERYTHING that is written in the newspapers or said on the news? Obviously not. Why? Most likely because you are aware that information can easily be manipulated or created to fit certain purposes. The same doubt should be exercised for anything man has written.

However there is one thing I would like to point out to you SG854 or anyone else reading. Not all religions are intolerant of others. In today’s world, religious intolerance seems to be a particularly “Abrahamic” problem though in no way limited to those religions. The seed of intolerance in the Abrahamic religions lies in the fact that central to their belief is the idea of the One True God, which is in their view the only valid truth (yes, I’m generalizing a bit). To them, there is NO other truth beyond this god and his Holy Word. Belief in this is crucial, it relies on what they call faith, something that cannot be questioned. And thus dies critical thought and therein is born intolerance and perfect coercion weapons for the powerful to use...

Returning to the vlogger, religious authorities should question themselves as to why they have to so vehemently enforce and protect God. Isn’t there suppose to be final Judgment Day after all? Why not let god take care of that abominable heretic PokymanGo player? God’s been pretty silent for sometime now. Also import things have been happening in his “name” for thousands of years!! Why so silent, why so indifferent this loving Father??!!
Yes, I deem it is finally time to see him act!! After all, why should we humans always have to do all of God’s dirty work??? 'Oh wait’ says the believer, 'hmmm...?? If we didn’t act in his name, maybe He wouldn't either... “Not good!” says the believer. “That could possibly negate his existence, and this thought process my faith does not permit”.

Our potential cosmic insignificance and the seemingly ever pervasive silence of the Universe is, I’ll admit, in some ways quite scary. Rather than facing this very real possibility, many choose religion instead. In the end, despite all that I just said, can we really blame them for doing so?

The human in it's current limited state is a problem. We function on old hardware that so desperately needs an upgrade. Science & Transhumanism might offer a solution.
 
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UltraDolphinRevolution

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Wow I didn't expect this kind of deep conversation here. Thanks, SG854 and Eirikr.

SG854
, you said that some people think God doesn't reveal himself because then no one would believe. Isn't it the opposite? If he revealed himself - with a mircale everyone could witness (like a writing in the sky saying: "'I'm God, believe in me") - then everyone would believe and everyone would fear him and go to paradise. But that would mean God wants people to go to hell or at least test them. Otherwise he would show himself. But if he likes to test people, then the naive ones are better off. Critical thinking would be risky.

Eirikr, what you said about Abrahamic religions is true. Interestingly even the Jewish faith was not monotheistic in the beginning. During the Babylonian Exile the Jewish faith was in danger. During (and right after this time) most of the Old Testament was written or at least redacted. I personally think the Babylonian Exile caused the emergence of Abrahamic monotheism in the following way: The Jews were defeated and exiled even though they believed in their God. So they had 2 choices: accept that their God is weaker than others or negate the existence of other Gods altogether (i.e. there is only one God - our God - and he punished us because we weren't obeying him well enough).


About the case: Scary development. First Russia bans Jehova's Witnesses (they aren't violent, I wonder if they are called extremists because of the refusal of blood transfusion) and now this. Offending religious feelings is not a crime. It's an idea/ideology. Ideas can be called into question. By using this logic the Russian government puts itself on the same side as the people who rejoiced in the killing of Charlie Hebdo. And calling the existence of Jesus or Muhammad into question is illegal? This must be a joke/misunderstanding.
 
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sarkwalvein

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Plural of Pokemon is also Pokemon.
In Japanese perhaps, because there are no plurals in Japanese.
But in English with English grammar?

Example of a portmanteau in English:
Fan Magazine = Fanzine
Plural = Fanzines

Another portmanteau:
Pocket Monster = Pokemon

Following English grammar...
Pocket Monsters = Pokemons
 

bi388

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In Japanese perhaps, because there are no plurals in Japanese.
But in English with English grammar?

Example of a portmanteau in English:
Fan Magazine = Fanzine
Plural = Fanzines

Another portmanteau:
Pocket Monster = Pokemon

Following English grammar...
Pocket Monsters = Pokemons
People still say Pokemon as a plural in English. We don't have very consistent pluralizations.
 

SG854

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Wow I didn't expect this kind of deep conversation here. Thanks, SG854 and Eirikr.

SG854
, you said that some people think God doesn't reveal himself because then no one would believe. Isn't it the opposite? If he revealed himself - with a mircale everyone could witness (like a writing in the sky saying: "'I'm God, believe in me") - then everyone would believe and everyone would fear him and go to paradise. But that would mean God wants people to go to hell or at least test them. Otherwise he would show himself. But if he likes to test people, then the naive ones are better off. Critical thinking would be risky.

Eirikr, what you said about Abrahamic religions is true. Interestingly even the Jewish faith was not monotheistic in the beginning. During the Babylonian Exile the Jewish faith was in danger. During (and right after this time) most of the Old Testament was written or at least redacted. I personally think the Babylonian Exile caused the emergence of Abrahamic monotheism in the following way: The Jews were defeated and exiled even though they believed in their God. So they had 2 choices: accept that their God is weaker than others or negate the existence of other Gods altogether (i.e. there is only one God - our God - and he punished us because we weren't obeying him well enough).


About the case: Scary development. First Russia bans Jehova's Witnesses (they aren't violent, I wonder if they are called extremists because of the refusal of blood transfusion) and now this. Offending religious feelings is not a crime. It's an idea/ideology. Ideas can be called into question. By using this logic the Russian government puts itself on the same side as the people who rejoiced in the killing of Charlie Hebdo. And calling the existence of Jesus or Muhammad into question is illegal? This must be a joke/misunderstanding.
I have actually heard the argument from believers, that the reason God doesn't reveal himself is because no one would believe. If some guy walked around and claimed he was God would you believe him? Which is why I brought the counter argument, if he's an all powerful God like some claim, then why not do some extraordinary miracle to prove he, she or it is God. If God wants to test people, supposedly being all knowing, knowing that there's over 4,000 religions in the world, he must know that its very hard for us to know which religion is the true one. So having a test to stay faithful, to not believe in false religions, and to believe in his true religion, is a very stupid test by God, because without any help or evidence, which one do we pick to stay faithful? We might've been believing in the wrong religion this whole time, we were faithful but faithful to the wrong God. Truly a God can't be this stupid and have a stupid test.

Also I would like to add. People say that morals from religion are the best type of morals, because other morals are man made and can be subjected to corruption. But the problem with this is, people pick and choose what things to believe in the bible, and what not to believe. If God made morals are better than man made, then why not follow everything in the Bible exactly? If your picking and choosing what to believe in the book, then your basing it on your own man made beliefs, not Gods beliefs, and your corrupting Gods morals. Your destroying the whole purpose of religion, and furthering my point that its not needed for morals, because you already have your own idea what good morals are from sources you got elsewhere.

Many religions have been through so many revisions throughout history, including the abrahamic ones. When you read the Christian Bible there are a few moral stories in there, probably used to make the bible not seem so horrible. But its mostly a book of rules of things you can and can't do, and in the Old Testament stories of God punishing people for not following specific rules. The theme of believing in God is rampant in the bible. If its a book of mostly rules then obviously its there for a purpose. The purpose being to try control people, and using fear to accomplish that. Because why else would you have commandments in there and having God torture people? Many political powers throughout history have used religion to control the population. During US slavery, slave owners tried to convince the common person that owning slaves was ok, using the curse of ham story from the bible, saying that black people are cursed, and it worked.

It seems the most logical conclusion is that some religions were used by political hustlers and they revised it to suit there purpose. Many would not follow everything a political person tells you to do, but if you come up with a religion and create fear to believe in it, then you can control the masses easier.
If this isn't a book used to try to control people the why are there so many rules, and punishments involved for not following? If its not a book created and used by political people, then why doesn't God reveal that it actually came from him, and the rules are from him? It should be an easy task for an almighty God.
 
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UltraDolphinRevolution

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Ok, thanks for the clarification. I hadn't heard that argument before. It's a silly one.

What you said is correct. However, there is a way for a Christian not to follow everything in the Bible while still believing in divine morals: He will argue that he is no longer under the old covenant. The problem with this is of course the fact that God still seems like a brutal/immoral God by today's standards. He is actually morally perfect and the source of morality but there was a "limited" time when stoning, raping, genocide etc was ok/mandatory.
In principal though: if unchangeable morality exists, it would be an argument for the existence of an eternal God (not necessarily the Christian one). I'm just not sure whether unchangeable morality does exist or not.
 
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SG854

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Ok, thanks for the clarification. I hadn't heard that argument before. It's a silly one.

What you said is correct. However, there is a way for a Christian not to follow everything in the Bible while still believing in divine morals: He will argue that he is no longer under the old covenant. The problem with this is of course the fact that God still seems like a brutal/immoral God by today's standards. He is actually morally perfect and the source of morality but there was a "limited" time when stoning, raping, genocide etc was ok/mandatory.
In principal though: if unchangeable morality exists, it would be an argument for the existence of an eternal God (not necessarily the Christian one). I'm just not sure whether unchangeable morality does exist or not.
If it would be an argument for the existence of God, then which religions God will it prove to be the true God. Is it the greek gods? The Christian God? Any other? Theres still the I don't know which religion is the correct one, and it goes back to the top post I made, #202. They are shooting in the dark with that argument. And goes to the, why doesn't God reveal himself, and putting our lives in a gamble, which is the most F'd up thing ever. There are so many religions so which one? The people arguing for their religion don't even know, you can't without proof to point in the right direction, and are basically playing guessing games, so why bother with this mess?
 
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If it would be an argument for the existence of God, then which religions God will it prove to be the true God. Is it the islamic religion? The Christian God? Any other? Theres still the I don't know which religion is the correct one, and it goes back to the top post I made, #202. They are shooting in the dark with that argument. And goes to the, why doesn't God reveal himself, and putting our lives in a gamble, which is the most F'd up thing ever. There are so many religions so which one? The people arguing for their religion don't even know, you can't without proof to point in the right direction, and are basically playing guessing games.

FWIW Islam, Christianity and Judaism have the same god.

Edit Also Rastafarianism!

Rough timeline is prehistory monotheistic religion --reformation--> juadism claim there will be two further commings of profets --> Jesus claims to be first coming -- reformation --> christianty claims there will be a further coming --> Mohammed Claims final profet of this god and cancels second coming.
|
--> Rastarfians claim Haile Selassie I is second coming -- reformation --> form Rastarfarianism
 
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SG854

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It's confusing so I edited my post to have a rough timeline of where Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Rastafarianism (and who knows how many more religions) diverge.
Its a big mess isn't it with all these religions. The God of Abraham, Yahweh, came from some proto religion and he had a wife Ashera in that religion. So there was a Religion before it evolved into the current Abrahamic religions. Who know how far back it goes? Too many revisions and changes.

The goddess Ashera was mentioned in the bible, till she was almost fully edited out. Hebrew scriptures mentions Yahweh and his Ashera. Too many edits in religion.
 
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Didn't a church compare Mewtwo to Christian values? Jailing him for playing a game featuring a popular and powerful Christian character is blasphemous.
 

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The Jews were defeated and exiled even though they believed in their God. So they had 2 choices: accept that their God is weaker than others or negate the existence of other Gods altogether (i.e. there is only one God - our God - and he punished us because we weren't obeying him well enough).
Did you read the OT? Like half of the OT is prophets telling the jews that they will be exiled/taken over if they don't start following God and that it doesn't mean crap if you 'believe' in God if you don't follow any of his commands. That's why the Judeans survived the Assyrians unlike the Israelites, because they were following God (see here) at the time Israel fell.
 

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Without going into much detail, "unjust law" is subjective.

Morals are subjective. Yes, lots of morals lots of people agree with, but we're right now having a discussion of the morality of freedom of speech even if we aren't outright framing it in those terms. Then we're extrapolating our belief in morality to the codification in laws. Which is, at least in a democracy, a large basis on what is law, just or unjust.

So, it seems oddly dismissive to point out that the unjustness of a law is subjective.

As for this particular case, like someone mentioned before on here, his action was provocative one. A church is a place of worship. Consider it as "house rules". If he does not believe in a religion, then why go there to begin with?

You mean like Martin Luther? Honestly, as far as Christianity goes I'm an atheist*. But a large part of the way in which churches change is precisely from people internal to the church who disagree with the majority who work to convince them or who splinter off into sub-denominations. In any case, the notion of a church as a place of worship is pretty hilarious given how little actual worship I ever saw at any church.

* Strictly speaking I'm an agnostic--for all I know we've got a Loki-like creator God. I just don't believe in the Christian God (or really any of the related ilk) because of basically guilt by association (the Old Testament is absurd and any claim any of it as a basis for the authority of their religion is also absurd); haven't really seen any other religions that don't fall into the same trap of absurd ancient text** and possibly newer tangent revisions that are the same guilt by association. But atheism is something of a spectrum and I have no idea if Ruslan Sokolovsky is a hardcore atheist (belief in no Gods, possible disdain of all religions, etc) or a softcore atheist (perhaps just doesn't believe in the teaches of the current Russian Orthodox Church (especially with its State ties) but may well agree with some previous incarnation). Which reminds me of the joke of the person who became an atheist precisely because they attended Catholic School. There's also the whole point of agnostic Christians who take the statement of agnosticism more literally and recognize that salvation comes from faith/grace/whatever, not secret knowledge.

** Scientology isn't a religion...yet. Wait until its text our ancient. :)
 

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Did you read the OT? Like half of the OT is prophets telling the jews that they will be exiled/taken over if they don't start following God and that it doesn't mean crap if you 'believe' in God if you don't follow any of his commands. That's why the Judeans survived the Assyrians unlike the Israelites, because they were following God (see here) at the time Israel fell.

Sorry but you are naive if you think prophecies are always written before the events.

"Some scholars hypothesize that Judaism was originally a form of monolatrism or henotheism. In this hypothesis both the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had YHWH as their state god, while also acknowledging the existence of other gods.[27] In this hypothesis, beginning with the fall of Judah to Babylon, when a small circle of priests and scribes gathered around the exiled royal court developed the first idea of YHWH as the sole God of the world.[17]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism#Judaism
 

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** Scientology isn't a religion...yet. Wait until its text our ancient. :)

This bullshit is my biggest problem with religions. They always want beneficial treatment. It's never about equal respect to other religions. Scientology is just as much a religion as the Abrahamic ones.
 

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